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VE3/SO-101 – 409m, 2 Points SOTA Summit (Height 1342 ft)

We had a fun day out in the freezing cold today activating this Summit. Its a Ski Resort and it was closed but I was able to summit to the peak to activate it. I was on 40m (7.166 MHz SSB) with 11 HF contacts and 1 on 2m simplex before trying to seek shelter and warmth as it was windy and very cold. Minus 2 but colder with the wind chill.

Sunny skies turned into a darker overcast sky (meaning colder) fairly quickly making it a bit unbearable but as you know in ham radio we make the QSOs and worry about a loss of fingertips later.

This may be the first VE3 SOTA activation ever.

I am not sure if this location is open in the summer (i.e. Downhill Mountain BIking, Zip LIne etc.) as its a Ski Resort.

I used the Yaesu FT-891 Mobile HF radio (20 watts), a Bioenno 1209 battery, and a PackTenna Linked Dipole. I used the Yaesu FT-817 for band spotting and to make a 2m simplex contact at 5 watts with a 5/8 whip. I brought a Bioenno 1212 as well as back up in case I wanted to push the power upwards of bands were running short.

I thought that 20m would be useful but running the LD as an inverted V did not provide the low take off angle I would have needed.

I will update the log once I thaw out and recover from the frigid air.

I had a consistent 57 or better signal with most stations coming in a solid 59. This just shows that a 20 watt signal and a linked dipole can make contacts. I chose the linked dipole because I did not want to carry an antenna tuner as the yaesu does not have a built in antenna tuner.

I was not able to spot myself using one of my apps as the database was not recognizing the VE3.

Lesson learned is to ensure spotting apps works before making the hike up to the summit. I am also looking at a 20m vertical and a Linked dipole set up to take advantage of local 40m daytime contacts and a better scenario for 20m. I am thinking a simple coax switch to do an A/B would do the trick.

I can feed the vertical from the bottom and get away with 10 feet of coax for the V and leave the 25″ for the dipole.

As a bonus the resort I realized later is the host for the VE3RPT repeater site and based on its elevation and views towards Toronto provides excellent coverage.

I look forward to more activation’s from this prime spot in the future once access is figured out as the Summit is pretty much at the top of the Ski Hill.

QSL will be out shortly to confirm this event!

73s es gud SOTA

John VE3IPS

Sitting on the snow with the backpack radio doing its job

The Linked Dipole was bungeed against the fence which was a good thing as I had guy ropes but the ground was frozen